Over the years I played a selection of Oprahs programs in-house as they were a rich, rare source of discussion and reflection and glimpses into new possibilities and self reflection during the years I ran a personal development group at a shelter for homeless young mothers. Oprah’s personal story is one of over coming enormous obstacles and the impact of abuse, liberation from racism and the power of aligning with the Divinity of life, putting practical action to make the Dream come true. Many homeless Women I met over the years recognised their own potential through the Stories that Oprah brought onto the world stage…

For young Aboriginal Women at the shelter who grew up seeing only white faces on Australian television (sadly not much has changed), Oprah’s presence on national television was hugely significant.

Oprah Winfrey is surrounded by a co-creative team and it has taken many years of creativity and co-operation for her to have reached the stand alone level of influence and impact she has achieved. I saw how impactful and life changing her motivational shows were for homeless Women throughout the 90’s – especially the Remembering Your Spirit series . I admire her achievements enormously, though I am not so much interested in her programs around celebrity and make overs as I am about what people can do to create change and activate their fullest potential.

Women’s Well~Being has been the focus of my work from many years & most of the ProsperArty Mandalas and the personal development art that I create for workshops express the Goddess aspect of being a Woman. We would sit and colour the Mandalas whilst watching the Oprah Show ~ a very relaxed way to sit and absorb information.

For me, one of the most powerful off all internal keys to creating change is Creativity…returning to the free flowing, creative state we came into this world with & have often lost along the way….

In the Spirit of recognising a Woman of great influence, who manifests the very best of the Goddesses, Athena the Warrior who invokes change, Hestia who presides over home and heart’h, Persephone who transcended the subjugation of the underworld and Artemis who cares for young girls and sacred animals, I acknowledge Oprah Winfrey’s role that she has played in showing women that you can create and grow and bring about change in this world, irrespective of which of the skins you are in, where you have come from or what others will say can or can’t be done….

The Mandala below – which I have called “When Women Dream and Create Together” is created in the form of a Mandorla, the name of the shape created where two circles meet. See my “About me ” page for further explanation of the Mandorla.

I was inspired to create “When Women Dream and Create Together” when it was announced that Oprah Winfrey would be coming to Australia, in a jumbo jet with John Travolta in the pilot seat and dozens of over joyed audience members! How fitting that Oprah completes her 25 years of public television with a trip to the Dreamtime Country.

Australia is Aboriginal country with a history of profound culture and wisdom that goes back thousands of years prior to European’s arriving here just a very short time ago. It is a living culture with so much to teach the world about how to live in harmony with Nature and within our Self. It is still the very early days of recovery from the devastating impact of white-settlement and I sincerely hope this important Australian story to the world during her visit.

I chose the words at the centre of the Mandorla to reflect three things that are core to creating together : Love, Passion & Service.

“Service is rent paid for room on Earth”….

In my workshops we add colour to the black and white template to create our own ProsperArty posters for relaxation and reflection. For those who have not experienced working with the Mandala (circular) art form, I encourage you to give it a try! Place your Vision, / thoughts / feelings into the Circle and see what Magic will unfold….

Sal and I spent the afternoon in the garden.
Whilst Sal put in some more summer vegies I took some images of Natures Mandalas…bushes and shrubs flowering around the garden…..

You can see the three-dimensional glorious red Bottle Brush flower…a cylindrical Mandala that is in magnificent bloom right across the plains here in Adelaide.
The pumpkin Mandala that appeared at the end of a winding plant-trail, quite some way from where the seedlings were planted.
Then there is the golden orange calandula and delicate purple flowers…There is a tiny green lemon that will blossom to a bright yellow ball over the next few weeks and alittle orange ball that was once a Rose… Magic!

I love the pink flowers with the 5 mauve dots in the centre of the Mandala flower…it reminds me of a turtle.

….And right there at the end of the photos there is an old spinach root that looks like the Mandrake plant which is designated mystical powers by sciptwriters and Magicians across the world!….;-)

Can you see the face on the Spinach root, the wild hair and expressive arm?……I sure can…..

Once a year the Show comes to town and a few acres of land on the edge of the city is transformed into the carnival atmosphere that we all remember from our childhood.

I took my camera along yesterday to capture some of the “people Mandalas”…the show rides that people clamber aboard for the sole purpose of being thrilled and adrenalined to a whole new state!

This is the Chaos experience….looked like a bit of a metaphoride as the couple in the second shot immerse in the vuluptuous cacophony of chaos all around them……

This is the ride where people are rotated individually within a big gyration…lots of fun and laughter…and interesting how taking the shot from a completely different angle shows another side to the ride….
It’s all about perception!

This is one of the best People Mandalas at the show…I just love the artwork and creativity that has evolved on the show rides over the years…

I was invited to facilitate a Community Art project celebrating 30 years of service to the community by a domestic violence accommodation and support service.
We created 6 installation Mandalas over 5 weeks with a group of women who had been housed by the agency in the last few years.
At the end of the the project one of the participants said that reconnecting with her creativity made her think beyond being a ‘survivor of domestic violence’ and “I found parts of me I didn’t know were there”….another participant went on to employment in the human services sector – part of that process was beginning to look forward as a result of looking back to where she was when she first entered the agency in crisis…

The staff of the shelter also created a piece that represented the inspiration they find in the Womens stories and their courage to change.

Heres a photo of four of the 6 Art of Community Mandalas with a description of the theme we used to create it:

The Future is in our Hands
This Mandala is created by a circle of hands that reflect the power we have to make new choices & create new dreams.

Our Strength as Women
Who is the “Warrior Woman”, what are her strengths & how does she go about creating change and developing the life she desires?

30 years of Service
Many Women and Children have passed through the doors since 1977 and the agency is an important part of the community. This art piece reflects the role that the agency has played in creating a safer, more peaceful community.

World Peace Begins at Home
Our home should be the place where we feel safe and at peace. This Mandala has the theme of the Peace Dove and reflects the importance of living in a safe & peaceful home.

I am developing a 12 piece Mandala series for an Art Exhibition “Talking in Circles”….

Like Connections we are all One (click here) the current current painting has golden orbs…which are sunflowers, created by fire-flames of turmoil and chaos…the garden grown on the compost of days now past…
I was inspired to do this piece after running a group for Women living in a domestic violence shelter and hearing their stories of having lost their homes, had their dreams and hearts…and sometimes teeth broken….but are now developing the skills, belief in Self and courage to create their new life, free of violence and old patterns.
Learning to develop their Mind!!…….Yes!

I had the Phoenix painting-in-progress on the floor earlier this evening….getting ready to paint some more….and I left the room for just a second…and upon my return….look who I found sitting in the flames, warming her bottom!……;)

Purrl the Wonder Gurrl Cat!

Purrl arrived in my life only a couple of months ago, a homeless stray who gave birth to 4 gorgeous kittens two weeks ago…so I guess that having known homelessness, single parenting and hunger, she is well qualified to sit in the Phoenix fire and claim her brand new, purrrrfect life….

Creating Empowerment Art is a process that engages people on an auditory, kinaesthetic, visual, emotional / Spiritual level which reflects the mulitplicity of peoples preferred learning styles , whilst also relieving them from the boredom of having to sit still during workshop training.

As we study the principles of “I create my reality” we create Art work that embodies the essence of the session and the art work, which I call ProsperArty, then comes to live with us in our homes, art work that embodies self-created Intent and is also a subliminal reminder of all that we discussed in the session that day.

This week we looked at moving from Poverty to Prosperity.

From Harm to Harmony

When living in and having been born into poverty the patterns of inherited limitation and expectation of lack can run very deep so this week I made a ProsperiTree for the Women to create one of their own

It is made by tracing the hand and arm to form the branches and trunk, thus claiming:“My Prosperity is in my Hands”

Then we fill the abundant foliage with the larger currency notes, decorate it with the Vision and intent of a brighter and more abundant path in life.
Don’t we have colourful currency here in Oz?

Having the ProsperiTree on the wall in the home enables the ProsperiTree Creator to get used to SEEING money and being FAMILIAR. ~FAMILY~are~with the presence of money in their life.
The Law of Attraction is empowered when FEELING + ACTION are passionately engaged.

Getting into the FEELING of abundance in order to overcome lack and limitation!

ProsperiTree in Development:

There are many misconceptions around Money so in the between weeks of our monthly “Art of Change ~ Law of Attraction Empowerment Group”, the participants, under the skilled guidance of Deanna -Nungala, are studying The Science of Getting Rich by Wallace Wattles .
Here are some of the ProsperiTree Goddesses showing the forest of new opportunities that they have ‘drawn’ into their life.

Once we have had the “Wow” of new information and insight, the Law of Attraction requires us to begin to ACT as part of the co-creative process and to FEEL the feelings of how the new, wonderful things will look and feel and smell and taste.
Wow!! Then HOW? Followed by NOW!

Thankyou Oprah for sharing that insight on the Anniversary Collection DVD set. I thoroughly agree that once people have ‘heard the new news, it is important that they then receive the information about how.

CHANGE is a full-bodied, experience and ‘drawing’ in those changes we begin to work more consciously with the Law of Attraction along with the process of time and seasons and cycles.

Empowerment Art is a heart warming, creatively empowering way to develop our creativity manifestation skills that are often still embryonic by the time we reach an age of self enquiry and embark on the journey within.

EMpower =MEpower!

How did so many end up so disconnected from the magical, creative self we knew ourselves to be as children?
I wrote a piece that might explain what happened to some and thankyou to those wonderful teachers who were able to ensure that the co-creative magic was not lost, whilst so many others inadvertently put out the fires of magic and possibility that burn so brightly in children.